BALTIMORE — The month of October is known for many things like fall weather, pumpkin patches, and horror.
For the people that consider themselves, "horror enthusiasts," a new competition was created with them in mind.
It's called the Face of Horror competition and one Maryland resident is vying for the top spot.
Michael Croxton, originally from Northeast Baltimore, is currently leading the competition with the number one spot. He's competing with people all over the world.
The rules of the competition are quite simple. Think of it as a huge popularity contest, and the person with the most votes at the end of each week moves on to the next round.
To sign up, contestants are selected after they fill out a brief survey testing their love of everything horror.
"Basically, the competitors had to sign up and like, write a little bit about yourself, upload some pictures, and basically, whoever made it, made it," said Croxton. "So, you basically are just going off of public voting."
There's only one free vote per day. People who have extra money to spend, can pay to vote for their favorite contestant and this allows them vote up to three times a day.
25% of the money goes to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation for cancer research and the rest goes to help with filming the film.
The winner gets a two-night stay at Buffalo Bill's house (the killer from The Silence of the Lambs) and a photo shoot with Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees), for Rue Morgue Magazine.
Winners also get a role in an independent horror film.
However, the prize Croxton has his eyes on isn't so obvious.
"If I had to pick one thing, I would say it's being able to meet the director," said Croxton. "I want to pick his brain."
Croxton takes his love of horror to the next level as he's also a screenwriter in the horror genre.
He says he's in love with the genre because of the characters.
"More than likely, you're not going to walk down the street and see a wolfman or Dracula," Croxton said. "I just think it's kind of cool like this have to just let your mind wander."
The long-term goal is to win an award for one of his screenplays. Currently, he's working on something that involves a person transitioning into a werewolf.
Without giving away too much, Croxton believes the production of this story is coming along smoothly.
At this point, he's looking for big name actors and the financing.
"I just know that it deserves to have the caliber of talent, the financing to everything, of anything, you might go to the movies and see," said Croxton. "So, if I have to wait, then it is what it is. I can get it into production now."
He draws his inspiration from Wes Craven, the writer of A Nightmare on Elm Street. More specifically, he was intrigued by how Craven created Freddy Krueger.
"He said he created it from a bully at school, and I'm like, man, I can relate to that," Croxton explained. "I did the same thing basically with a character that I've made in one of my screenplays."
Not only is Croxton interested in working behind the scenes in show business, he's even tried his hand acting. Landing roles in shows like "The Wire", "Lady in the Lake", "We Own this City", and "Lioness."
He's even met some heavy hitters in the horror movie industry, like Tony Todd (Candyman) and Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger).
10-15 years from now, Croxton hopes to bring a soundstage and film production company to Maryland on a large scale. Much like how "Lady in the Lake," rents a warehouse, he wants to own it.
For now, his attention is set on the Face of Horror competition.
Voting is open through Nov. 10, and you can vote for Croxton here.
